Tuesday, February 17th, 2009 at 5:30 pm
Remarks by the President and Vice President at Signing of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

For Immediate Release February 17, 2009

REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
AND THE VICE PRESIDENT
AT SIGNING OF
THE AMERICAN RECOVERY AND REINVESTMENT ACT
Denver Museum of Nature and Science
Denver, Colorado

12:50 P.M. MST

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Governor, thank you. Governor, thank you very much. It’s a genuine honor. It’s an honor to be here with the President. And my name is Joe Biden. I used to work for — I used to work for Ken Salazar — (laughter) — in the United States Senate. And it’s good to see you here, Ken. I guess you got — you’re going to hitch a ride home with me, right?

He rode out on the big plane. He’s going back on the little one. And I also want to acknowledge Senator Michael Bennett, who I had an opportunity to meet. (Applause.) And Congresswoman DeGette is here, as well. There she is. And Mayor Hickenlooper, I want you to know how much we appreciate the hospitality. And also, I believe Congressman Perlmutter was at the — there you are, Congressman. I wasn’t sure you were — he greeted us when we got off the plane. (Applause.)

Mr. President, it’s a slight diversion, but I think we got to be nice to him. The Chairman of the Finance Committee, Max Baucus, is here. (Laughter.) And so we got to make sure — Max, just remember, when we call, I call, just say “Yes, Joe,” okay? (Laughter.) All kidding aside, thanks for your great help in this, Max…
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…Because we know we can’t power America’s future on energy that’s controlled by foreign dictators, we are taking big steps down the road to energy independence, laying the groundwork for new green energy economies that can create countless well-paying jobs. It’s an investment that will double the amount of renewable energy produced over the next three years. Think about that — double the amount of renewable energy in three years. (Applause.) Provide tax credits and loan guarantees to companies like Namaste, a company that will be expanding, instead of laying people off, as a result of the plan that I’m about to sign.

And in the process, we will transform the way we use energy. Today, the electricity we use is carried along a grid of lines and wires that date back to Thomas Edison — a grid that can’t support the demands of this economy. This means we’re using 19th and 20th century technologies to battle 21st century problems like climate change and energy security. It also means that places like North Dakota can — that can produce a lot of wind energy can’t deliver it to communities that want it, leading to a gap between how much clean energy we are using and how much we could be using.

The investment we’re making today will create a newer, smarter electric grid that will allow for broader use of alternative energy. We will build on the work that’s being done in places like Boulder — a community that’s on its — that’s on pace to be the world’s first Smart Grid city. (Applause.) This investment will place Smart Meters in homes to make our energy bills lower, make outages less likely, and make it easier to use clean energy. It’s an investment that will save taxpayers over $1 billion by slashing energy costs in our federal buildings by 25 percent; save working families hundreds of dollars a year on their energy bills by weatherizing over 1 million homes. And it’s an investment that takes the important first step towards a national transmission superhighway that will connect our cities to the windy plains of the Dakotas and the sunny deserts of the Southwest.

Even beyond energy, from the National Institutes of Health to the National Science Foundation, this recovery act represents the biggest increase in basic research funding in the long history of America’s noble endeavor to better understand our world. And just as President Kennedy sparked an explosion of innovation when he set America’s sights on the moon, I hope this investment will ignite our imagination once more, spurring new discoveries and breakthroughs in science, in medicine, in energy, to make our economy stronger and our nation more secure and our planet safer for our children….